Getting the Hang of Charge - Questions
The Getting the Hang of Charge Concept Builder is comprised of 32 questions. The questions are divided into 12 different Question Groups. Questions in the same group are rather similar to one another. The Concept Builder is coded to select at random a question from each group until a student is successful with that group of questions.
There are three different difficulty levels that can be engaged in through the Concept Builder. Those three levels are differentiated as follows:
- Apprentice Difficulty Level: Question Groups 1-4. Interactions between Balloon A of known charge and Balloon B of unknown charge are described and depicted. The charge on Balloon B must be determined.
- Master Difficulty Level: Question Groups 5-12. Interactions between Balloon A (of known charge) and Balloon B and between Balloon B and Balloon C are desribed and depicted. On occassion, the interaction of Balloon B or C with paper bits is also described. The charge on either Balloon B or Balloon C must be determined.
- Wizard Difficulty Level: Question Groups 13-16. Interactions between Balloon A (of known charge) and Balloon B and between Balloon B and Balloon C are desribed and depicted. The interaction of Balloon B or C with paper bits is also described. The charge on either Balloon B or Balloon C must be determined. There are usually multiple possible answers.
The questions from each group are shown below. Teachers are encouraged to view the questions in order to judge which activities are most appropriate for their classes. We recommend providing students two or more options.
The Physics Classroom grants teachers and other users the right to print these questions for private use. Users are also granted the right to copy the text and modify it for their own use. However, this document should not be uploaded to other servers for distribution to and/or display by others. The Physics Classroom website should remain the only website or server from which the document is distributed or displayed. We also provide a PDF that teachers can use under the same conditions. We have included a link to the PDF near the bottom of this page.
Getting the Hang of Charge
Apprentice Difficulty Level
Question Group 1
Question 1
Two balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B repel each other. Balloon B is ________.
Question 2
Two balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B repel each other. Balloon B is ________.
Question Group 2
Question 3
Two balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloon B is ________.
Question 4
Two balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloon B is ________.
Question Group 3
Question 5
Two balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloon B attracts neutral paper bits. Balloon B is ________.
Question 6
Two balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloon B attracts neutral paper bits. Balloon B is ________.
Question Group 4
Question 7
Two balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloon B does not interact with neutral paper bits. Balloon B is ________.
Question 8
Two balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloon B does not interact with neutral paper bits. Balloon B is ________.
Master Difficulty Level
Question Group 5
Question 9
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B repel each other. Balloons B and C repel each other. Balloon B is ________.
Question 10
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B repel each other. Balloons B and C repel each other. Balloon B is ________.
Question Group 6
Question 11
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B repel each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon B is ________.
Question 12
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B repel each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon B is ________.
Question Group 7
Question 13
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C repel each other. Balloon B is ________.
Question 14
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C repel each other. Balloon B is ________.
Question Group 8
Question 15
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon B is ________.
Question 16
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon B is ________.
Question Group 9
Question 17
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B repel each other. Balloons B and C repel each other. Balloon C is ________.
Question 18
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B repel each other. Balloons B and C repel each other. Balloon C is ________.
Question Group 10
Question 19
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B repel each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon C attracts neutral paper bits. Balloon C is ________.
Question 20
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B repel each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon C attracts neutral paper bits. Balloon C is ________.
Question Group 11
Question 21
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C repel each other. Balloon C is ________.
Question 22
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C repel each other. Balloon C is ________.
Question Group 12
Question 23
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon C attracts neutral paper bits. Balloon C is ________.
Question 24
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon C attracts neutral paper bits. Balloon C is ________.
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon B attracts neutral paper bits. Balloon C is ________.
Question 26
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon B attracts neutral paper bits. Balloon C is ________.
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon B does not interact with neutral paper bits. Balloon C is ________.
Question 28
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon B does not interact with neutral paper bits. Balloon C is ________.
Question 29
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon C is ________.
Question 30
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B attract each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon C is ________.
Question Group 16
Question 31
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is positively-charged. Balloons A and B repel each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon C attracts neutral paper bits. Balloon C is ________.
Question 32
Three balloons are hung from the ceiling by threads. Balloon A is negatively-charged. Balloons A and B repel each other. Balloons B and C attract each other. Balloon C attracts neutral paper bits. Balloon C is ________.